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Everything you expect from a neighbourhood café and more.

Half a mile from Markfield Park down the River Lee is Springfield Park. The park rises steeply up from the river and has an amazing array of tree species making it beautiful in all seasons. At the brim of the hill there is a line of park benches each one surrounded by box hedge offering a private view across the Lee Valley, Walthamstow and beyond. The park warden was nice enough to give me a chestnut log a couple of years ago from which I carved a bench and two stools.

It doesn’t happen very often but its one of those things that brings people together. Running to the park or hill with anything you can find that might work as a sledge with a big grin or your face.

As a keen runner, running through Greenwich Park and on to the river side I see the Thames Barrier, which is not only the worlds second-largest movable flood barrier (after the Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands) but is also an iconic site on what is fast becoming a recognised stretch for developers including the 02 and Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.